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Flavius Luteus Scaevola
"Picking up a book at random, I sat down in the Emperor's library to read. I read it and reread it, and wept and laughed and trembled with a horror which at times assails me yet. I pray the gods will curse the writer, as the writer has cursed the world with its beautiful stupendous creation, terrible in its simplicity, irresistible in its truth - a world which now trembles before the King in Yellow. The ambition of Tolumvire and of Blackhand pales before that which cannot rest until it seizes the minds of men and controls even their unborn thoughts.” -Flavius Luteus Scaevola History The son of Flavius Luteus, a nobleman in the Final Empire and an elven woman named Meira Adwarin, both of Scaevola's parents became outcasts and pariahs for their tryst. Flavius Luteus the Elder, having nothing to lose, joined Jotunheim's Rebellion as a military officer, and died bravely in battle. After giving birth to her son, Scaevola's mother fled the rebellion to return to her homeland, leaving him behind. She would never seen or heard from again. The young Flavius would grow up around the rebels, who would move him to the growing city of Arendur, which Jotunheim considered a better home for a child than a war camp. A witness to the empire's birth, Scaevola would come of age during the Demon Wars, and be drafted into the Arendurian Army, seeing action. He and his unit were on patrol during the destruction of Oranor, sparing him from certain death. For the years to come, Scaevola and his fellow soldiers traveled as mercenaries, surviving by the only trade they knew. During this time, Scaevola traveled from one elven community to another, trying to find his mother, without success. He made many lasting friendships among them, and for many years considered settling down among them. The return of the Illuminated and the foundation of New Arendur shattered those plans, and prompted his return. Personality Flavius Luteus Scaevola is a man who, believing himself rootless, did violence to all that he had. Offered a chance start anew among his mother's kind, the wood elves, he would instead join their oppressor to make war on them. A war hero in the Arendurian Army, he would abandon his homeland's ideals and sell out his country to a foreign power. A man committed to the principles of peace and equality, he channeled his outrage to play the part of the demagogue, stoking hatred and division to fan the flames of war. A man who fundamentally distrusted power, he would spill the blood of his countrymen in a grim quest to rule over them. A man who hated magic and the arcane, he would make a covenant with a great old one, wielding its power with wild abandon and striking down those who opposed him. Scaevola's Arendur is just for those who buy into its premise, certainly. He is a reasonable man behind the mask of a demagogue, and while he believes that the Reich must one day fall, he is not in a hurry to bring that about. He is mad and damned, however, a true terror to anyone who believes in mankind's claim to a fate of its own. War of the Philosopher-Kings Able to gain employ as an officer due to his history, Scaevola and his men were deployed to Forester's Town to defend against the Final Empire. Scaevola would attempt to assassinate Emperor Brennan, but would be quickly apprehended. As a show of defiance and resolve, he thrust his right hand into a fire, burning it beyond use. Shocked and impressed, Brennan allowed Scaevola to go free. His act of courage was applauded, and he won the name Scaevola - left handed. Many began to compare him to Tan Blackhand, who similarly had a malformed right hand. After the Battle of Forester's Town, Scaevola was assigned on peace-keeping missions against the local wood elves, who resented their Arendurian overlords. Scaevola began to question the morality of fighting his elven cousins. His officers picked up on his hesitance, and he was transferred to a new mission - leading the team that was sent to explore the ruins of the Northern Dome. He found it abandoned and eerily silent, a ghost city filled with the graves of mages and Hexenjägers side by side. In the dome itself, he met the sentinels of the throne, Lord Frazon and Lord Ale, who he recognized from the Great Crusade. He reminisced with them, and presented the request of the Illuminated to take the throne. He was refused, but instead presented with a set of three curious relics - a mask, a book, and an amulet. The two Lords told Scaevola that they had been found amongst Emperor Brennan's belongings, and that they had been found deep beneath the city. Scaevola took them back to the Illuminated, but on the way, read the first half of the book, which was a play entitled the King in Yellow. Upon his return, Scaevola was granted an honorable discharge from the army. He had already shown a hesitance to fight his kindred elves, and been exposed to what the Illuminated knew to be dangerous artifacts. Unwilling to fight for the mages any further, Scaevola grew to hate the leaders of Arendur, who he blamed for years of war and suffering. His mind altered and warped by his contact with the items, he became a swift convert to the worship of Hastur the Unspeakable, the King in Yellow. Determined to summon the great old one to the world and use his power to destroy the Tower of the Illuminated, he founded a political party, the Carcosai, to propel him for a quixotic Senate run. He would win a vocal minority of popular support among his constituency - indigenous people, veterans, rebels, the disenfranchised, those distrustful of magic, and opponents to the war. Maintaining close links to the rebellion, Scaevola would direct his men to secretly contact the Reich, asking for their help securing the mask, book, and amulet that he knew lay in the vaults of the Illuminated. In return, he would use them to destroy the Tower of the Illuminated and deliver New Arendur to the hands of the Reich. The Reich would accept his offer, dispatching Khamsa, Aldia, and two others for this task. The heist would emerge as a failure, with only the book falling into Scaevola's hands, the amulet remaining in the hands of the Illuminated, and the mask - the item he truly needed to summon the King - in the hands of Khamsa. His run for Senate would fail, and the War of the Philosopher-Kings would end without any meaningful change in New Arendur. And yet, it was only the beginning. After the War The amulet and mask would eventually fall back into Scaevola's hands, and the King in Yellow would come to New Arendur - although not by his design. After the Second Expedition and the death of General Shorden Hiem, Scaevola would be chosen by Reise Forrawyn to lead the conquered people of New Arendur. Following the destruction of the Illuminated, the Senate was dissolved. The Church, newly founded by the members of the northern expedition, began to take over many of the functions of the Illuminated. The priest-warlocks used their newfound powers to replace the gap that had been filled by the newly executed mages. Flavius Luteus Scaevola was elected by the Church's College of Cardinals to be the Pontifex Maximus, a title previously held in a secular fashion by Tan Blackhand. After the end of martial government, a plebiscite was held to determine whether or not the Senate should be reinstated. The people resoundingly voted no, and the Church took full control of the levers of power. The character of the church was originally civil in appearance, with few overt references to the King in Yellow. Nonetheless, the New Arendurians yearned for a spirituality which was missing in their lives; a tradition they could hold on to. The heroes of Old Arendur - Tolumvire and his brethren - were taboo, having been practitioners of witchcraft. Scaevola took several steps to change the culture of the city. He ordered that Tolumvire, Tan Blackhand, and the Illuminated be subject to damnito memoriae; their names stricken from all records. He spoke in terms of a cultural redemption and reawakening, with the conquest at the hands of the Reich being necessary to purge the twin Arendurian demons of witchcraft and secularism. He introduced the more heavily religious aspects of the Church without preamble, at first exhorting and then requiring the open worship of the King in Yellow. This was greeted at first with confusion, then bemusement, then resignation, and finally acquiescence. Two generations later, and few living would even remembered a different way of life, much less cared. The final step was a heavy revision to the Constitution of New Republic, in which Scaevola took the original founding document drafted by Tolumvire, and edited it himself. After clearing it with the Office of the Gauleiter, he presented it to the New Arendurians as his own - although of course, they recognized its historical significance, yet were forbidden by law and custom to speak about it. In time, it was accepted, and the rule of Flavius Luteus Scaevola became all the more unquestioned and absolute. Twenty years into his reign, Scaevola would grow enamored with and marry a half-elven woman from a wealthy merchant family, named Charlotte Bellerose. The wedding was a private affair, and Lady Bellerose, as she was called, shunned private life and knew little about the Great Old Ones. After giving birth to their only child, Cassilda Lucretia Scaevola, she would grow ill and suddenly die. Observers would note that the best part of Scaevola died with his wife. He would never re-marry. Category:Arendur Category:Four Tales Category:Mages Category:Carcosai